The Power Automate Designer team would love to hear feedback from the perspective of novice Power Automate users, citizen developers and low coders on their experience with Power Automate Designer. When designing flows, what do they struggle most with? If this sounds like something you’ve heard someone mention, please forward them this pre-screening survey to complete: https://aka.ms/MPA_DesignerFeedback
@kishbuy238 and team are interested in hosting a screen-sharing session to identify opportunities to improve the experience. This survey will be open through to August.
Is there a way to easily share custom connectors the same way we can export & import flows?
There is the option to submit template connectors to Microsoft.
But I’d like to eventually get into making some custom connectors for the community & this often means releasing something, getting community feedback, then submitting it as a potential template if it gets good enough. A more user-friendly way to share custom connectors & templates would help.
Just generally making it easier to develop & share things can allow us to make more complex things relatively simple for other developers & users.
Thanks for showing the interest!
We do provide and have been getting great response from the community on this. The independent publisher connector process is what you are looking for: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/custom-connectors/certification-submission-ip
We will certify connector submission made by the community. Today, we have over 100+ connectors submitted by the community! Looking forward to seeing your connector.
You can also push an open source custom connector in our GitHub repo as well.
Thanks
Sameer
One of the things I struggle with is when using the Update Item action. It makes you fill in required fields and also prepopulates yes/no and choice fields with the default value. I can see this needing to be the case if the action were for creating an item, but not for updating an item. This action should be designed so that all of the values are blank, so that it only updates the the actual fields you want to update, and everything else keeps the value it had before the update action.
It would also be great if flows did not time out after 30 days. Many processes take longer than 30 days to complete, and this then requires multiple flows to run when an item is updated, which then requires trigger conditions to make sure the flow does not run more than once each time the item is updated. This in turn then requires extra fields to be created in the list just to deal with the multiple flows to avoid timeout issues.
Kind regards,
David
I agree with @David-, I also often hear customers citizen developer asking, why they need to fill in so many fields using "Update item", if they just need one or two fields to be updated. Back then it was even worse that they accidentally had overwritten a field (which already got better). A little bit different idea to Davids would be: Instead of showing all fields, you have a choice/dropdown option (like the planner "update task details") and you can select the columns you want to update and have a button to add more columns.
Only the selected columns will be updated and need to get filled (similar if you would use a HTTP action and update items).
Citizen Developer also often struggle with building expressions. They always try to use actions, they need this "simple" fill out a field with information, so maybe it would be helpful to them, if more standard expressions were also available as actions (like "Math" or "Date and time" functions).
Thanks very much!
Best regards
Marvin
Blog: Cloudkumpel
I have never needed to, but I bet for any component of a process that requires more than 30 days, you could have it call a child flow with an HTTP call, then have that child flow set to call itself in another HTTP call again if it needs to wait more than 30 days.
https://www.enjoysharepoint.com/call-a-flow-from-another-flow-in-power-automate/
Workflows that take longer than 30 days can certainly be handled this way, but the original question was how to make things easier for beginners and citizen developers. Most beginners are not going to know what an HTTP call is or how to set that up. For most beginners, having to deal with HTTP requests would be a turn off and lead to them giving up on Power Automate.
@David-
At one point they had a "Call child flow" action. The only reason I posted the HTTP version is because last time I looked for that action it wasn't there anymore. 🙃
The call action is available, but only if you develop it within a solution. Call Child Flows - Power Automate | Microsoft Docs. We currently don't have our environments configured to use solutions, but I am looking forward to trying it out once we do.
I just remembered a very specific problem I have for designing & sharing flows & templates.
Whenever I have a Select action with anything more than really simple expressions in the key value pairs, I can’t copy & paste the action or the scope containing the action without it ruining all the expressions & changing the expressions to a form of text.
It can make things onerous if people need to copy a part of a template or other flow into their existing flows. Instead they have to import the template & copy & paste the rest of their workflow around the template with the Select action expressions.
Seems pretty backwards.
I almost forgot this until talking with a new member today. Is there any way to allow us to add actions to the top line of condition/scope/loop segments without having to add another action & drag down the top action?
It’s a weird design quirk I’ve become used to, but it likely confuses many new builders.
Push the copy step option to the system clipboard!
The copy action function is awesome, but it only allows you to copy between active sessions within the same tenant. I have a repository of template flows in my dev tenant, and sometimes I just want to pull an action from it for a new flow in a client tenant, like a complicated http call.
I know this one is also a big ask, but I find the suggested help topics fairly unhelpful. Some of them link to general topics instead of what I'm working on. What would be nice would be to integrate docs.ms into the side rail, so we can search the documentation without leaving the page.
Example: SharePoint HTTP call brings you to the general page, it would be nice if it could look at which property we are actively filling out to provide better suggestions i.e. when the "URI" box is selected, it'd be nice if the help topics were the list of site endpoint URIs instead of the generic SharePoint REST page.
@ryleybauer
What's the issue copying between different environments?
Because I often share templates where I provide a text file with just the code for some scope & set of flow actions. People can then copy that code to their clipboard, go to the "My clipboard" section of a new action, & use control + V to paste it into the new action clipboard options. You should definitely be able to do the same by copying an action to your clipboard in one environment, then control + V it into the other environment.
@takolota
I'm now seeing the details in my clipboard on my Windows 11 VM, but wasn't on my Windows 10 PC. When it was loading up the other items automatically, I didn't even think to try the paste directly, but that worked like a charm!
Thank you for your comment. Dragging and dropping is one of the areas we are considering improving on the designer. 🙂
Thank you for your comment. Acknowledged on the ask to integrate MS Docs into the side panel. I hope you are using the PVA chatbot which links an MS Doc for any How-to/Troubleshooting questions.
You should be able to copy/paste actions across solutions, but ack on the need to copy/paste actions across environments for the scenarios just like you mentioned above.
Ack on the 'Update actions' usability concerns. Thank you!
Episode Fifteen of Power Platform Connections sees David Warner and Hugo Bernier talk to Microsoft MVP Lewis Baybutt aka Low Code Lewis, alongside the latest news and community blogs. Use the hashtag #PowerPlatformConnects on social media for a chance to have your work featured on the show. Action requested: Feel free to provide feedback on how we can make our community more inclusive and diverse. This episode premiers live on our YouTube at 12pm PST on Thursday 1st June 2023. Video series available at Power Platform Community YouTube channel. Upcoming events: European Power Platform conference – Jun. 20-22nd - Dublin Microsoft Power Platform Conference – Oct. 3-5th - Las Vegas Join our Communities: Power Apps Community Power Automate Community Power Virtual Agents Community Power Pages Community If you’d like to hear from a specific community member in an upcoming recording and/or have specific questions for the Power Platform Connections team, please let us know. We will do our best to address all your requests or questions. Action requested: Feel free to provide feedback on how we can make our community more inclusive and diverse. This episode premiers live on our YouTube at 12pm PST on Thursday 1st June 2023. Video series available at Power Platform Community YouTube channel. Upcoming events: European Power Platform conference – Jun. 20-22nd - Dublin Microsoft Power Platform Conference – Oct. 3-5th - Las Vegas Join our Communities: Power Apps Community Power Automate Community Power Virtual Agents Community Power Pages Community If you’d like to hear from a specific community member in an upcoming recording and/or have specific questions for the Power Platform Connections team, please let us know. We will do our best to address all your requests or questions.
Welcome to our May 2023 Community Newsletter, where we'll be highlighting the latest news, releases, upcoming events, and the great work of our members inside the Biz Apps communities. If you're new to this LinkedIn group, be sure to subscribe here in the News & Announcements to stay up to date with the latest news from our ever-growing membership network who "changed the way they thought about code". LATEST NEWS "Mondays at Microsoft" LIVE on LinkedIn - 8am PST - Monday 15th May - Grab your Monday morning coffee and come join Principal Program Managers Heather Cook and Karuana Gatimu for the premiere episode of "Mondays at Microsoft"! This show will kick off the launch of the new Microsoft Community LinkedIn channel and cover a whole host of hot topics from across the #PowerPlatform, #ModernWork, #Dynamics365, #AI, and everything in-between. Just click the image below to register and come join the team LIVE on Monday 15th May 2023 at 8am PST. Hope to see you there! Executive Keynote | Microsoft Customer Success Day CVP for Business Applications & Platform, Charles Lamanna, shares the latest #BusinessApplications product enhancements and updates to help customers achieve their business outcomes. S01E13 Power Platform Connections - 12pm PST - Thursday 11th May Episode Thirteen of Power Platform Connections sees Hugo Bernier take a deep dive into the mind of co-host David Warner II, alongside the reviewing the great work of Dennis Goedegebuure, Keith Atherton, Michael Megel, Cat Schneider, and more. Click below to subscribe and get notified, with David and Hugo LIVE in the YouTube chat from 12pm PST. And use the hashtag #PowerPlatformConnects on social media for a chance to have your work featured on the show. UPCOMING EVENTS European Power Platform Conference - early bird ticket sale ends! The European Power Platform Conference early bird ticket sale ends on Friday 12th May 2023! #EPPC23 brings together the Microsoft Power Platform Communities for three days of unrivaled days in-person learning, connections and inspiration, featuring three inspirational keynotes, six expert full-day tutorials, and over eighty-five specialist sessions, with guest speakers including April Dunnam, Dona Sarkar, Ilya Fainberg, Janet Robb, Daniel Laskewitz, Rui Santos, Jens Christian Schrøder, Marco Rocca, and many more. Deep dive into the latest product advancements as you hear from some of the brightest minds in the #PowerApps space. Click here to book your ticket today and save! DynamicMinds Conference - Slovenia - 22-24th May 2023 It's not long now until the DynamicsMinds Conference, which takes place in Slovenia on 22nd - 24th May, 2023 - where brilliant minds meet, mingle & share! This great Power Platform and Dynamics 365 Conference features a whole host of amazing speakers, including the likes of Georg Glantschnig, Dona Sarkar, Tommy Skaue, Monique Hayward, Aleksandar Totovic, Rachel Profitt, Aurélien CLERE, Ana Inés Urrutia de Souza, Luca Pellegrini, Bostjan Golob, Shannon Mullins, Elena Baeva, Ivan Ficko, Guro Faller, Vivian Voss, Andrew Bibby, Tricia Sinclair, Roger Gilchrist, Sara Lagerquist, Steve Mordue, and many more. Click here: DynamicsMinds Conference for more info on what is sure an amazing community conference covering all aspects of Power Platform and beyond. Days of Knowledge Conference in Denmark - 1-2nd June 2023 Check out 'Days of Knowledge', a Directions 4 Partners conference on 1st-2nd June in Odense, Denmark, which focuses on educating employees, sharing knowledge and upgrading Business Central professionals. This fantastic two-day conference offers a combination of training sessions and workshops - all with Business Central and related products as the main topic. There's a great list of industry experts sharing their knowledge, including Iona V., Bert Verbeek, Liza Juhlin, Douglas Romão, Carolina Edvinsson, Kim Dalsgaard Christensen, Inga Sartauskaite, Peik Bech-Andersen, Shannon Mullins, James Crowter, Mona Borksted Nielsen, Renato Fajdiga, Vivian Voss, Sven Noomen, Paulien Buskens, Andri Már Helgason, Kayleen Hannigan, Freddy Kristiansen, Signe Agerbo, Luc van Vugt, and many more. If you want to meet industry experts, gain an advantage in the SMB-market, and acquire new knowledge about Microsoft Dynamics Business Central, click here Days of Knowledge Conference in Denmark to buy your ticket today! COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS Check out our top Super and Community Users reaching new levels! These hardworking members are posting, answering questions, kudos, and providing top solutions in their communities. Power Apps: Super Users: @WarrenBelz, @LaurensM @BCBuizer Community Users: @Amik@ @mmollet, @Cr1t Power Automate: Super Users: @Expiscornovus , @grantjenkins, @abm Community Users: @Nived_Nambiar, @ManishSolanki Power Virtual Agents: Super Users: @Pstork1, @Expiscornovus Community Users: @JoseA, @fernandosilva, @angerfire1213 Power Pages: Super Users: @ragavanrajan Community Users: @Fubar, @Madhankumar_L,@gospa LATEST COMMUNITY BLOG ARTICLES Power Apps Community Blog Power Automate Community Blog Power Virtual Agents Community Blog Power Pages Community Blog Check out 'Using the Community' for more helpful tips and information: Power Apps , Power Automate, Power Virtual Agents, Power Pages
Super Users – 2023 Season 1 We are excited to kick off the Power Users Super User Program for 2023 - Season 1. The Power Platform Super Users have done an amazing job in keeping the Power Platform communities helpful, accurate and responsive. We would like to send these amazing folks a big THANK YOU for their efforts. Super User Season 1 | Contributions July 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022 Super User Season 2 | Contributions January 1, 2023 – June 30, 2023 Curious what a Super User is? Super Users are especially active community members who are eager to help others with their community questions. There are 2 Super User seasons in a year, and we monitor the community for new potential Super Users at the end of each season. Super Users are recognized in the community with both a rank name and icon next to their username, and a seasonal badge on their profile. Power Apps Power Automate Power Virtual Agents Power Pages Pstork1* Pstork1* Pstork1* OliverRodrigues BCBuizer Expiscornovus* Expiscornovus* ragavanrajan AhmedSalih grantjenkins renatoromao Mira_Ghaly* Mira_Ghaly* Sundeep_Malik* Sundeep_Malik* SudeepGhatakNZ* SudeepGhatakNZ* StretchFredrik* StretchFredrik* 365-Assist* 365-Assist* cha_cha ekarim2020 timl Hardesh15 iAm_ManCat annajhaveri SebS Rhiassuring LaurensM abm TheRobRush Ankesh_49 WiZey lbendlin Nogueira1306 Kaif_Siddique victorcp RobElliott dpoggemann srduval SBax CFernandes Roverandom schwibach Akser CraigStewart PowerRanger MichaelAnnis subsguts David_MA EricRegnier edgonzales zmansuri GeorgiosG ChrisPiasecki ryule AmDev fchopo phipps0218 tom_riha theapurva takolota Akash17 momlo BCLS776 Shuvam-rpa rampprakash ScottShearer Rusk ChristianAbata cchannon Koen5 a33ik Heartholme AaronKnox okeks Matren David_MA Alex_10 Jeff_Thorpe poweractivate Ramole DianaBirkelbach DavidZoon AJ_Z PriyankaGeethik BrianS StalinPonnusamy HamidBee CNT Anonymous_Hippo Anchov KeithAtherton alaabitar Tolu_Victor KRider sperry1625 IPC_ahaas zuurg rubin_boer cwebb365 Dorrinda G1124 Gabibalaban Manan-Malhotra jcfDaniel WarrenBelz Waegemma drrickryp GuidoPreite metsshan If an * is at the end of a user's name this means they are a Multi Super User, in more than one community. Please note this is not the final list, as we are pending a few acceptances. Once they are received the list will be updated.
We are excited to share the ‘Power Platform Communities Front Door’ experience with you! Front Door brings together content from all the Power Platform communities into a single place for our community members, customers and low-code, no-code enthusiasts to learn, share and engage with peers, advocates, community program managers and our product team members. There are a host of features and new capabilities now available on Power Platform Communities Front Door to make content more discoverable for all power product community users which includes ForumsUser GroupsEventsCommunity highlightsCommunity by numbersLinks to all communities Users can see top discussions from across all the Power Platform communities and easily navigate to the latest or trending posts for further interaction. Additionally, they can filter to individual products as well. Users can filter and browse the user group events from all power platform products with feature parity to existing community user group experience and added filtering capabilities. Users can now explore user groups on the Power Platform Front Door landing page with capability to view all products in Power Platform. Explore Power Platform Communities Front Door today. Visit Power Platform Community Front door to easily navigate to the different product communities, view a roll up of user groups, events and forums.
We are so excited to see you for the Microsoft Power Platform Conference in Las Vegas October 3-5 2023! But first, let's take a look back at some fun moments and the best community in tech from MPPC 2022 in Orlando, Florida. Featuring guest speakers such as Charles Lamanna, Heather Cook, Julie Strauss, Nirav Shah, Ryan Cunningham, Sangya Singh, Stephen Siciliano, Hugo Bernier and many more. Register today: https://www.powerplatformconf.com/
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